NYC NOW - October 17, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: October 17, 2024

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is denying rumors that she's seeking out a position in a potential Kamala Harris administration. Plus, an off-duty New York City correction officer remains on trial for the killing of a teenager. The officer's attorney says his client fired in self defense. Also, Rep. Pat Ryan is hoping an endorsement from fellow Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will give him a boost in a closely watched race that could determine control of the House. And, Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s “Grounded” is in production at the Metropolitan opera through October 19th.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. New York Governor Kathy Hockel is dismissing reports that she's seeking a position in a potential Kamala Harris administration. She was responding to a story in the online publication, Notice, that said her aides reached out to the Harris camp about a possible job. But the governor says it's not true. I love New York. I'm not leaving New York. So all that is false. There are people, there are bad actors out there once again,

purveying in lies. Hokel says she's running for re-election in 26. A Sienna College poll from last month shows that the governor has a 34% approval rating. The trial of an off-duty New York City correction officer charged with killing a teenager is wrapping up. The teen had hit the officer with a bead fired from a fake gun. But the officer's attorney says, his client fired in self-defense. Here's WMYC's Samantha Max. Prosecutors say Dionne Middleton shot 18-year-old Raymond Chalusant in the face late one night in July

2022. He then left the scene in the Bronx and was arrested at work the next day. He's pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Middleton was a firearms instructor for the Department of Correction. Prosecutors say he knows how to shoot a gun. and used excessive force. Middleton has been suspended without pay. He sat with his shoulders hunched and occasionally tapped his fingers on the table during closing statements.

He could face up to life in prison if convicted. In the Hudson Valley, Representative Pat Ryan is hoping an endorsement from fellow Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will give him a boost in a closely watched race that could determine control of the House. More on that, after the break.

You are listening to NYC now. Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is lending support to a colleague in a tight re-election battle in the Hudson Valley. It's a key test of whether AOC's brand of progressive politics helps or hurts in a New York swing district. WNYC's John Campbell has more. Ocasio-Cortez is standing at a lectern in an old boathouse. It's near the Hudson River in the city of Kingston, a couple hours north of her district in the Bronx and Queens. She's addressing a crowd

of a few dozen local officials and labor reps about the need to keep the river clean. The Hudson is part of what connects all of New York. But what's more notable is who's standing next to her, Representative Pat Ryan, a fellow Democrat. He's trying to hang on to his seat in Congress in next month's election, and he brought AOC to his district to help make the case. I can't say how much incredible work that Congressman Ryan does, not just for his district, but frankly for our entire state. Ryan's district is one of a handful of swing seats in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island that'll help determine which party takes control of the House. But aside from him, the Democratic candidates in those races haven't exactly been rushing to Ocasio-Cortez for help. Sure, she's super well-known and has a legion of dedicated, engaged supporters, but,

These candidates are running as moderates, and campaigning with a hero of the progressive movement comes with plenty of political risk. He's going around Kings and G with, guess who? AOC. Come on, give her a big boom. That's Duchess County GOP chair Michael McCormick talking about Pat Ryan later that same day. He's firing up the crowd at a rally in Poughkeepsie for Allison Esposito, Ryan's opponent. And for that crowd, AOC is an easy foil. AOC, one of the most liberal congresspeople in our country, and he's saying he's a centrist?

Are you kidding me? Ryan knows he's handing the GOP a talking point. But the Ulster County portion of his district tends to vote for progressives. And he needs to win big there in order to keep his seat. I mean, I just respect the hell out of Congress from Montezzi-Cortez. He and AOC have similar positions on things like. like abortion rights and the Hudson River cleanup. But they don't on things like increasing federal grants for law enforcement,

which Ryan voted for. They say their positive working relationship proves that they can work across ideological divides. He's really great at developing those relationships, both across the aisle with Republicans, but also throughout many different parts of the Democratic Party as well. When I asked Ryan about other moderates being hesitant to embrace Ocasio-Cortez, He leaned to his left and embraced her, literally. That's going to be in an ad somewhere.

Just get ready for that. He's joking, but not really. His opponent, Alison Esposito, says he might be right. It may very well show up in an attack ad. Esposito is a former New York City police officer who's been running a tough-on-crime campaign. She's been trying to paint Ryan as an out-of-touch liberal. Anyone that's embracing AOC and embracing the policy,

that she stands for is not embracing pro-Americans, putting our people first policies. And that's not going to play in the Hudson Valley. Not too long ago, the Democratic Party establishment was wary of Ocasio-Cortez, too. She unseated a 10-term incumbent, and she's considered a leader of a band of progressive members of Congress who tend to buck party leadership. But that started to change. She had a big speaking role at the Democratic National Convention. And in recent weeks, she's campaigned for Kamala Harris in the key swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

When I asked whether she'll campaign for other Democrats in New York swing seats, she said she's open to it. I think that that part of that division and polarization of our politics is this politics of running away from each other and our values. And we don't need to do that. A recent poll by Emerson College showed Ryan leading Esposito by five percentage points. Early voting begins on October 26th. Election Day is November 5th. That's WMYC's John Campbell. Tony Award-winning composer Janine Tesori may be best known for her works Kimberly Akembo and Caroline or Change, but one of her newest works at the Metropolitan Opera is closing out its opening season this weekend.

It's called Grounded, a composition based on George Brandt's play by the same name. It's about a female fighter pilot in how her unplanned pregnancy, gets her, well, grounded. Tesori says Brandt's 2013 play was her North Star. When I look at a piece and adapting it, that is the true north for any musical or opera that I write. You're really looking to that as the impulse to make a work. And for us, it was many things.

One is a woman in the sea of a masculine business, but also a woman who is living life as an F-16 pilot and bomber, but also not sticking around because of the speed with which she goes through life to witness the destruction that she's responsible for, and not just singularly, but as a collective. So in her pregnancy, she gets grounded literally, but she also gets grounded, you know, politically, spiritually, psychologically, until she becomes a drone pilot, and she is for forced to reckon with the destruction that she's reeking. Tesori wouldn't share any other spoilers. You'll just have to check it out for yourself.

Grounded is one of two operas by female composers commissioned by the Met for this year and next. Tesori talks about the significance of that. Well, I think it's the beginning of something. Opera in particular, but musicals as well, they take technique. They take taming your creative impulse. They take many, many hours and years of work

and a sense of collaboration. And I think a lot of, I will say, as a young woman, we need to encourage them. We need to give them fertile ground with which they can try out these works. And then the idea of stories that come from the femme-pointing, a femme presenting point of view is another thing because we have to encourage these young people to write the world that they hear,

write the things that they want to see. That's Janita. Sorry. Her new composition grounded is in production at the Metropolitan Opera through October 19th. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.